I am the Chief Technology Officer for Extreme Networks. That’s a lofty title at a company focused on advancing technology.  

But what does it really mean?  

I want to be clear: I don’t work alone! My main role is to be the head of the Office of the CTO. And to me, this office is essential in two areas.  

One of the core jobs of the Office of the CTO is to see around corners. That means identifying risks and opportunities in tech and working to ensure our products always remain relevant to what the world needs from us. We need to respond to inflection points – points of pivoting or other major changes in the world – so that we can continue to grow where the market will grow.  

The second responsibility is thought leadership. We want to showcase some of our most brilliant minds – and we have a few! – to a wider audience than our current customers who get to deal with them on a regular basis. We want to share some of our greater learnings with the world and engage in a broader discussion about technology.  

The Office of the CTO is a collection of engineers, technicians, marketers, operations, and creatives. They work together to incubate new ideas and partnerships and create content that shares Extreme’s thoughts on technology and business trends. Their focus is the near-future – ideas that will impact us all two to five years from now. We’re working on what’s next.  

Here’s an example of what I mean. The team is currently considering a concept I have developed called the Infinite Enterprise. I have a theory that the demand for distributed networks will greatly accelerate due to the global pandemic. Over the next three to five years, distributed networks will need to improve to deliver enterprise-grade trust, connectivity, and experience, while increasingly becoming easier to use and implement. This will enable businesses of all kinds — employers, retailers, schools, hospitals, and many other industries — to provide completely new and better experiences for their customers and clients. Our challenge now is to figure out how we can do this and how quickly.  

We have lots of ideas! And we want to connect with you and talk tech. That’s why we created a podcast called Inflection Points, which is produced by the OCTO team and explores big ideas and tech for Extreme Networks. We will also feature regular content on Extreme’s blog page, designed to contribute thought leadership and illustrate some of the more compelling elements of today’s technological world. 

It’s all a bit exciting, isn’t it?  

Come back to ExtremeNetworks.com regularly for our latest efforts. Let us know what you think, as we take on technology’s relationships with the worlds of today and tomorrow.